Southern California

» cedar falls
the drive to the cedar falls trailhead ended with a bumpy curvy dirt road that
got progressively rougher and narrower during its long eight mile duration.
there was dense fog most of the way so i was beginning to think that going on
this hike was as foolish as megan thought it was...but you never know what you
will experience when you explore the outdoors and as we descended into the the
valley there was no doubt that the drive was worth it, because after all, it
was megans car, not mine, that was getting ripped apart by the deep ruts. due
to the excessive rain this spring, the waterfalls and creeks were rolling with
water and the hillsides were covered with flowers. the trail headed down one
side of the valley, wrapping around the curves of the hills with mildred falls
cascading down the rocks in the background and with wildflower covered slopes
ahead. we got a little lost and ended up hiking down to the san diego river,
over to cedar creek, up to the falls, up the side of the falls, and back
around.

above the valley, pools of water collect and feed the creek below. this tree
looks like a victim of the 2003 fire.

entering the valley.

from the start of our hike, the 100 foot mildred falls could be seen in the
distance behind us.

a closer look at mildred falls (there is an unofficial trail prior to the cedar
falls trail which will lead you to this overlook).

ridge.

mountain.

the overlapping slopes of the valley.

steep slopes.

mildred falls is still visible in the distance.

the valley and some flowers.

looking back at the trail.

fields of flowers.

assorted wild flowers.

looking back at the valley.

across the valley.

wildflowers.

wildflowers.

left: the san diego river, at the bottom of the valley. right: a green stringy
moss that hung in the water, pulled by the current, and covered much of the
surface in some areas.

cedar falls (90 ft).

me on the rocks in front of cedar falls.

trees congregate in the valley floor, above cedar falls.

further up the valley.

we were there.

here is the path we took, courtesy of google maps.

» la jolla valley
our venture into the la jolla valley was rudely interrupted by a
rattlesnake.although i calmly informed everyone of the snake in my barry
white-like voice (come on now my sugar babies, there's a snake on this here
trail and he's just a lookin' for some lovin'), it still sent everyone
running in the other direction once the rattle started going. okay it wasn't
the snake that sent them running, my barry white impression was really bad.it
was a bright sunny day and either i or my camera suck at taking pictures in the
sun so the pictures don't really do the scenery justice.

those things that look like large q-tips are actually plants that i forget the
name of, but they are not yuccas as some would have you believe.

heading into the valley.

a waterfall and a snake in the pool below the falls.

deeper into the valley.

various views of the valley.

me, megan, geoff, cheryl. there are no photographic tricks going on here, geoff
and cheryl are actually dwarves. they may have little legs but they have big
hearts, just don't piss them off or they will come right at your knees. just
joking, there is no way they are dwarves, they are not angry enough.

near la jolla valley, along the pacific coast highway, there is a big sand dune
that we climbed.

» woodson mountain
the most distinctive feature of the woodson mountain area is the rock strewn
slopes. i have no idea how they got there (god maybe?), but the huge rounded
boulders are everywhere and are often big enough to present a rock climbing
challenge by themselves.

from the top of woodson mountain.

heading down.

littered with rocks.

an interesting rock formation and dan using it to fullfill his childhoood dream
of being superman.

me, megan, dan, alex.

» glider port, la jolla
i had been to the glider port several times but never explored the north side
so this time i decided i would. there is a nice canyon on the north side that i
couldn't help but hike up and i eventually ran into a 3-tier waterfall about 30
feet high that was actually flowing with water due to all the rain (or, the
water is runoff from the golf course above the cliffs).

view from the top of the cliffs and the view from the beach looking back up at
the trail down.

left: the bottom tier of the waterfall where the water glides across a near
vertical cliff. right: the top two tiers of the waterfall.

the middle teir and looking from the ocean into the valley and from the valley
to the ocean.